


The Shape I'm In

by yeswayappianway



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/F, Multi, Polyamory, Summer, Women in the NHL
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-08
Updated: 2018-07-08
Packaged: 2019-05-30 06:42:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15091220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeswayappianway/pseuds/yeswayappianway
Summary: Auston has made some really questionable choices in her life. This, though, she thinks while waiting at the airport, this might take the cake. Inviting her teammate that she has a giant crush on to come spend part of the summer with Auston is bad enough, but encouraging her to bring her soulmate? Definitely puts it in a category of ‘shitty decision’ all its own.Just then, Auston’s phone buzzes on the dashboard. We’re here! reads the text from Mitch. Making eye contact with her own reflection in the rearview mirror, Auston sighs, and squares her shoulders. She can do this.





	The Shape I'm In

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Stromesquad](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stromesquad/gifts).



> i hope you enjoy!
> 
> many many thanks to jarka for beta-ing this!
> 
> title from Pretty Girl, by Hayley Kiyoko. i listened to so many lesbian/wlw playlists on spotify during the writing of this fic.

Auston has made some really questionable choices in her life. Nothing major, generally, but like. They’ve definitely happened. This, though, she thinks while waiting at the airport, this might take the cake. Inviting her teammate that she has a giant crush on to come spend part of the summer with Auston is bad enough, but encouraging her to bring her soulmate? Definitely puts it in a category of ‘shitty decision’ all its own.

Just then, Auston’s phone buzzes on the dashboard. _We’re here!_ reads the text from Mitch. Making eye contact with her own reflection in the rearview mirror, Auston sighs, and squares her shoulders. She can do this. She texts back, _ill be waiting outside baggage claim_ , and puts her phone down to drive.

It’s a Wednesday, so at least the Phoenix Airport isn’t too busy. Auston only has to circle three times before seeing Mitch and Dylan walking out of the door to the baggage claim, looking a little lost. Mitch obviously sees her first, because Auston sees her smack Dylan’s arm and point. Auston smiles and quickly pulls into a vacant spot by the curb, and they hurry over to the car.

“Hi!” Mitch chirps as she opens the back to throw their bags in. Dylan doesn’t say much, but she smiles and waves when she climbs into the back seat, looking a little folded up. Mitch hops in front with Auston, and Auston tries not to feel too happy about that.

“Hey Mitch. Dylan,” Auston nods at Dylan, and tries to focus on driving.

Dylan says, “Hey, man, thanks for picking us up. Mitch has been so excited about this, you have no idea.” Auston doesn’t want to look at Dylan to see if she looks less than genuine, so she just nods again. Mitch starts rambling excitedly.

“Yeah, ‘cause it’s awesome! We go so many places and we never get to see them for real, and it’s so different here than back in Toronto, and…” She keeps talking, but Auston lets her attention wander, focusing on the sound of Mitch’s voice more than what she’s actually saying.

It sounds kind of shitty when she thinks about it, but like, Mitch talks a lot, and she’s admitted that a lot of it is just kind of meaningless. One time, while Mitch had been halfway drunk at a team party, she’d told Auston that she just doesn’t like the quiet. Auston hadn’t known how to respond, still doesn’t, because she’s so much the opposite. Mitch had said she didn’t mind, as long as Auston didn’t mind that she was a motormouth. Auston had wanted to kiss her then, but she’d caught a glimpse of the messy, slanting script on Mitch’s arm, and she’d pulled back abruptly. 

Auston tries to stop thinking about that, and instead just worry about merging on to the highway. She mostly succeeds.

\-----

When they make it back to Auston’s place, Auston helps carry their bags inside. Mitch has gone quiet, but when Auston looks back at her, she’s smiling fondly.

“This is really you, Aus,” she says in answer to Auston’s unvoiced question. “It fits.” Auston doesn’t know how to react to that, so she leads them to where they can drop their stuff.

“Are you guys hungry?” she asks, unsure if they had time to eat at the airport, or if timezones are fucking with them.

Dylan answers immediately. “Always.” Mitch laughs at her.

“You’re such a fucking black hole, Dyl.”

“I’m a growing girl, Mitchell,” Dylan sniffs, turning up her nose.

Mitch looks pointedly up. “How much more growing can you do, really?”

“Awww, you jealous, babe?” coos Dylan.

Auston laughs out loud. They both stop their argument to look at her. “I’ve been hearing about the famous Marner-Strome bickering for a while now, and I gotta say, it lives up to the hype.” It’s also fucking adorable, but she tells herself to ignore that part.

Mitch bows, flourishing her hands excessively, but Dylan’s eyes narrow. “Hey now, it’s definitely the Strome-Marner arguing, get it right.”

Snorting, Mitch says, “You don’t always have to come first, buddy.” Auston starts heading toward the kitchen, figuring they can continue their banter on the way.

It means she’s not really paying attention when Dylan says, “You like it when I come first, though.” Auston nearly chokes on air. She can hear the leer in Dylan’s voice, and this is really not information that she needed.

“Anyway,” Auston stutters, her voice higher than usual. “We’ve definitely got food—probably, like, sandwiches would be the easiest.” She studiously doesn’t look at them as they get to the kitchen.

“Sandwiches would be great,” says Mitch, coming up next to Auston to look into the fridge. Auston is hyperconscious of where Mitch’s elbow is brushing up against her side. Grabbing some sandwich supplies almost at random, she stiffly brings them over to the counter.

\-----

“Do you want to just chill, or do you want to do some sightseeing?” Auston asks after they’ve eaten. It’s mid-afternoon, but she didn’t really have any plans for after they arrived. Everytime Auston had tried to come up with a plan, she’d been disappointed in her own ideas, so she figured she could just wing it. She’s always loved showing people around the city, and there’s something special about taking friends to places that were special to her when she was younger. That doesn’t mean she’s not down for hanging out at the pool, either, though.

Mitch is looking at Dylan, who seems to be flagging slightly after eating. She sits up straighter once she sees Mitch studying her, though. “Uh, sure, whatever,” Dylan says noncommittally.

“Let’s just chill,” Mitch decides.

Auston nods, and says, “There’s a pool out back, if we want to do that?”

Dylan brightens up a little, and says, “Yeah, sounds fun.”

“If you guys want to go change, I’ll meet you back here,” Auston says. She doesn’t know when her mom is getting home, but she should probably leave a note or something.

Her sister and her dad are out of town on a trip, which Auston is kind of grateful for. Not that she thinks it would go poorly for them all to meet, but that’d be a lot of people for the house. She scribbles a note saying ‘Mitch and Dylan got here fine, we’re out at the pool’, and heads to her room to change as well.

Back in the kitchen a few minutes later, Auston wonders what she’s doing exactly. She’s supposed to try and be getting over Mitch, and this probably won’t help. They’ve only been back in the same place for an hour and it’s already—a lot. Hopefully the presence of Dylan will help her remember what’s cool and what’s Not Cool at all. Auston doesn’t know what to make of Dylan. She’s heard a whole lot of stories—Mitch loves her a lot, and never misses an opportunity to talk about her soulmate, how they met, how their soulmarks showed up when they were still kids—but she’s never really interacted with Dylan before this.

Before Auston can really get too deep into her thoughts, Dylan and Mitch come into the kitchen, jostling each other out of the way. Auston smiles again. Their energy is infective, and she leads the way out to the pool with a little more of a spring in her step.

The spring in Auston’s step nearly become a stumble when they get outside. Dylan stops just in front of her and Auston is confronted with what feels like miles of bare skin. Dylan’s swimsuit isn’t particularly fancy, almost just a sports bra and shorts, but they don’t cover much and she’s got very long legs and it’s just—a lot for Auston to handle.

And then, as if that weren’t bad enough, she hears Mitch shout, “Cannonball!” and before Auston has a chance to say that technically that’s not a great idea in this small of a pool, Mitch has jumped off the edge and straight into the water. She bobs back up immediately, and a distant corner of Auston’s mind notes that Mitch is safe and that’s good.

Mitch had been wearing an oversized t shirt, but she must have taken it off while Auston was staring at Dylan’s back because Mitch is absolutely wearing a bikini. The same part of Auston’s brain that made sure Mitch was safe is impressed that Mitch had the nerve to jump into a pool that way wearing a swimsuit that could come off that easily. The rest of Auston’s brain is incredibly focused on Mitch, suddenly soaking wet and treading water, looking right at Auston. She’s sure Mitch is saying something, and Auston feels like a gross dude in a cartoon, but she absolutely cannot pay attention to words when Mitch is in a bikini right in front of her.

There’s a low whistle from somewhere next to her, and Auston forces herself to look away. Right. Dylan. Mitch’s soulmate. Right next to Auston.

Resolutely not thinking about anything, Auston drops her things on one of the chairs, and just walks into the pool, not even really bothering to jump. She drops into the deeper end, and the shock of the water is enough to get her brain back online. Hopefully.

“Oh shit, Auston, what happened to your back?” Mitch says, concerned, after they’ve been in the pool for a few minutes. Auston, more worried about avoiding a cannonball—from Dylan this time—doesn’t answer right away.

“Huh?” Auston says. “Nothing happened to my back, what do you mean?” Mitch comes over from the shallow part of the pool to poke at a spot over her shoulder blade.

“It looks a like a bruise. This doesn’t hurt?” Mitch asks as she pokes it harder.

“No,” Auston is too confused to come up with a clever answer. Dylan joins them, but doesn’t say anything. She gets out of the pool soon after and goes to lay on one of the deck chairs. Auston looks back at Mitch, trying to figure out if she’s done something wrong, but Mitch is looking at Dylan with a slight frown. Auston half-heartedly splashes Mitch. It seems to distract her, and Auston spends the next new minutes getting chased around her own pool.

\-----

Back in her own room, Auston twists in front of the mirror, trying to see the spot Mitch had poked at. Sure enough, there’s a big dark blotch on her left shoulder blade. It doesn’t hurt at all—she hadn’t even noticed it until Mitch pointed it out. Unexpected bruises are nothing new; she plays hockey. But not feeling it at all? That’s unusual. Auston frowns, and goes to get dressed. Maybe it’ll go away soon, and she can forget about it.

\-----

“Your mom’s awesome,” Dylan says, sounding a little surprised. They’re getting back into Auston’s car to go out for dinner. Dylan is climbing into the back again, and Auston twists around to look at her.

“Yeah, she’s great,” Auston says, a little aggressively. “Glad you agree.” Mitch snorts quietly.

Dylan puts her hands up. “No, hey, sorry. Obviously she’s great, I just—uh. Usually I feel like parents don’t like having three hockey players taking over their house.” 

Auston backs down. It sounds like Dylan might be speaking from experience, and Auston can’t argue with that anyway. She’s seen how trashed the older guys’ houses are after team events, she wouldn’t want to deal with that either.

Mitch snorts again, louder. “Just because Connor’s mom won’t let us all come over anymore doesn’t mean everyone else is like that, Dyl.”

Now that Auston is back on familiar territory—she’s heard Mitch’s stories about the three of them getting into trouble plenty—she starts the car.

Dylan makes an outraged noise. “Excuse you, Connor’s mom loves me! You’re the bad influence.”

“I was the bad influence?” Mitch asks in disbelief. “Who broke the downstairs window again? Oh right, not me!” 

Auston grins. When she’d first heard about Mitch-and-Dylan and their constant arguing, she’d figured it was an exaggeration. It isn’t, but it’s also obviously all in fun. It makes for good entertainment, which Auston appreciates. She loves having friends around, but she’s not the most talkative person, which is part of why and she and Mitch work so well.

As friends, she reminds herself, her good humor momentarily thrown off. They work well as friends, and teammates, and occasionally linemates. Nothing else.

\-----

Dylan slumps down in her chair. “That was amazing, but also I ate so much I think I might explode,” she groans. 

Mitch nods in agreement, and Auston is pleased. She’d taken them to one of her favorite restaurants, a Greek place her family has been coming to for several years now, so it feels like a personal triumph that they liked dinner, even if it really has nothing to do with her.

“So you probably don’t want to go for a walk now, then?” she asks Dylan, whose eyes get wide.

“I mean— if you wanted to— we could—” Dylan stops talking when Auston can’t keep the smile off her face. “Fuck you, Matthews. I don’t want to move for a week.”

Mitch pats Dylan on the shoulder. “We can roll you out to the car, Dyl, how’s that?”

“Aw, come on, can’t you carry me?” Dylan whines, looking up at Mitch with a bit of a smirk.

This time, it’s Mitch who says, “Fuck you. I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that you’re a dick. I could totally carry you if you weren’t so awkwardly shaped.”

Dylan’s giggling now. “If you weren’t so short, you mean?”

Auston tries to resist laughing at Mitch’s offended face. It doesn’t go very well, and Mitch takes a break from trying to glare through Dylan’s face to stick her tongue out at Auston.

“I don’t need to listen to this slander,” Mitch announces grandly. She stands up and walks to the front of the restaurant, and Auston loses sight of her before she walks outside. Auston and Dylan share a look.

“Do you think she remembers that you drove?” Dylan asks, not moving, her smirk still firmly in place.

Auston shrugs. “She will when she gets outside.” They’re both quiet for a second, and then they start laughing again.

Dylan stops laughing first. “Hey, um, sorry for inviting myself along,” she says, and she sounds uncertain for the first time all day.

“No, don’t worry about it, totally cool. Besides, I think technically Mitch invited you along,” Auston says, trying to sound casual. She hadn’t exactly been thrilled when her invite to Mitch had turned into Mitch-and-Dylan, but that doesn’t mean she’s sad to have Dylan here. Besides, “Sorry you’re here, I guess. You probably didn’t want to spend part of your summer in Arizona.”

Auston doesn’t know how a shrug can look so self-defeating, but Dylan manages it somehow. “I’ve got to get used to it eventually, right?” She makes a face. “Sorry, that was rude. I know it’s your home. I don’t, like, hate it or anything.” Dylan sounds a little like she’s trying to convince herself, and Auston wants to be offended, but mostly she’s just kind of sad for Dylan.

“Maybe I can convince you to like it better,” Auston says, and Dylan gives her a weird look.

Slowly, Dylan says, “...Sure.” There’s another moment of silence, and then Dylan stands up, making a show of taking it slowly. “Let’s go see if Mitch got into any trouble outside.”

Auston follows her out, feeling off-balance. It feels like something has changed between them, but Auston doesn’t know what, and it’s not the most comfortable feeling. Still, she meant what she said. She’d love to convince Dylan that Arizona is worth loving.

\-----

Auston doesn’t really mean to ask the question, it just comes out after the movie ends and they’re all on the couch, too lazy to turn off the tv. “Is that really how having a soulmate feels?” she asks.

Dylan and Mitch exchange a look, and Auston already regrets saying anything. It’s one of those couple looks, a whole conversation in a few seconds of silence. Mitch speaks up first, unsurprisingly. “Not all the dramatic love at first sight shit, no. You know soulmates don’t have to be romantic, we thought ours wasn’t for years.”

Yeah. Auston knows. It’s objectively a pretty funny story, two of the young wonderkids of Toronto-area hockey who seem to hate each other suddenly finding each other’s name on their skin. Of course, not everyone knows that they’re actually dating now, but Auston does, and it sort of ruins the whole story a little. It makes their hockey and their old feelings just parts of a cute love story, and Auston thinks that’s a little fucked up. Or maybe she’s just jealous. It’s sort of a toss-up.

Mitch starts talking again. “There’s no… spark, or whatever? I would have never known Dylan’s name had shown up if I couldn’t see it.”

Now, Dylan chimes in. “We still have to, like, work at being in a relationship. Everyone always acts like it’s just instantly perfect when you’re soulmates in movies and whatever.” She shrugs, looking almost angry. “It’s kind of fucked up.”

“Why did you want to know?” asks Mitch. She’s looking directly at Auston, and Auston’s heart drops.

“Uh, no reason. Just, you know, the movie made it such a big deal, and I figured you were here, so I might as well ask.” Auston has no idea if she sounds convincing. She doesn’t even know herself why she asked, exactly. She’s already broken her rules about trying not to be half in love with Mitch while she’s here, and if she thinks about this too much, she’ll definitely break them even more.

Mitch rolls her eyes, and goes off on a rant about how wrong most movies are about soulmates. Dylan’s still looking at Auston, and Auston wonders what she sees.

\-----

The next morning, Auston makes sure to check the weird spot on her back. It still doesn’t hurt, but when she look in the mirror, she stops breathing. It’s still an indistinct dark blob, but there’s clearly some heavier lines appearing in the middle. Auston is afraid to look closer, but she has a sinking feeling that she’d find the beginnings of letters spelling out Mitch. She sits down heavily in the middle of her room.

Her first concern is practical: no swimming today, and she’ll need to make sure that she wears a shirt that covers the mark. The—calling it a soulmark feels wrong. It’s clearly what it is, but when Auston knows with complete certainty that Mitch already has a soulmate, is happy with Dylan, it feels morally wrong to act like she has some claim to Mitch.

How did this go so wrong? Auston hears Mitch’s voice saying, “You know soulmates don’t have to be romantic,” and hopes desperately that this is what’s happening here. Auston doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry about asking Mitch and Dylan about soulmates the night before. It’s like she knew somehow.

Oh god, Dylan. As much as Auston doesn’t want Mitch to find out about the mark, it’s probably even more important that Dylan doesn’t know. Auston’s had less than charitable thoughts about Dylan before, especially last season when it seemed like Mitch was constantly talking to her instead of doing things with the team, but Auston also knows that it’s mostly just her own jealousy. Dylan’s always seemed like a good person, and now that they’ve actually spent some time together, even if it’s just a day, Auston knows that she’s also funny and cares so obviously about Mitch. Auston would hate to fuck things up between them.

So what can she do? Act normally, obviously. Soulmarks aren’t something Auston’s ever paid much attention to, since she never had one, so she doesn’t know if sometimes they go away. But whether it can go away or not, she can act like it’s not there—keep to her original plan, treat Mitch as a friend, and try to ignore anything else she feels. Auston remembers Dylan studying her last night after asking about soulmates and she wonders if Dylan thinks she already knew about this. It’s all too much to worry about, and Auston, regardless of what else is happening, wants Mitch and Dylan to have a good time. She can ignore this until they leave.

\-----

“Wait, Auston, this is incredibly important,” Dylan says, facing her. Auston doesn’t recognize Dylan’s expression, but she knows this tone from everyone she’s ever played with. She just raises her eyebrows, waiting for Dylan’s punchline. Dylan says, “Does this zoo have otters?”

Auston smiles. She’d actually been expecting that question. “Yeah, come on, they’re over this way.”

Dylan actually cheers. “Sweet! Lead the way.”

Mitch trails behind them, sipping at her oversized lemonade. Despite Auston warning them about the temperature, Mitch looks kind of like she’s starting to melt. Dylan is either unbothered, or just ignoring it by sheer force of will to see otters. When Auston suggested going to the zoo, she thought Mitch would be the one excited about it, since Mitch is pretty much always excited about things. Instead, Dylan had perked up, and started listing off random animal facts. Mitch seemed happy enough to go, but mostly watched Dylan’s animal enthusiasm with a fond smile.

They’re close enough now that there’s a sign for the otters, and Auston points it out to Dylan, who hurries off. Auston slows down and walks with Mitch. “You okay, Marns?”

Mitch nods. “Yeah, I’m okay. I don’t know how you live here, aren’t you dying?” She holds her lemonade up to her head, even though it’s probably lukewarm at best.

Shrugging, Auston says, “You get used to it, I guess.” 

She takes off her hat and starts waving it at Mitch’s face, half to actually get a breeze, and half because she knows it will amuse Mitch. Auston succeeds in both goals, and her stomach does a little pleasant flip at Mitch’s laugh, which is followed by a much less pleasant memory of the mark on her shoulder blade. Auston backs off, offering the hat to Mitch, who declines.

They catch up to Dylan, who’s craning her neck awkwardly next to the glass. It looks like the otters are trying to stay out of the sun as well, since they’re crammed in a back corner of the enclosure. Mitch rolls her eyes. “She just wants to send pictures to Connor.”

“To Connor—oh. Erie Otters?” Auston asks.

“Yep. They’re grossly cute about otters. I mean, I care about my juniors team, but you don’t see me taking pictures of suits of armor and sending them to the guys.” It seems like this is not the first time Mitch has made this argument, because Dylan responds instantly.

“Suits of armor aren’t cute, Mitchell. Otters, on the other hand, are adorable. Also, I’m not sending them to “the guys”, I’m just sending them to Davo.” Dylan is, in fact, trying to hold her phone up against the glass to take a picture of the otters. Mitch looks under Dylan’s arm at the otters for a minute, and then goes to sit on a bench in the shade. Auston doesn’t know where to go, so she awkwardly reads the information plaque. They’re a type of river otters from Africa, apparently.

“Hey,” says Dylan, having come up behind her. “You’re not, like, super bored, are you? It was super nice of you to take us here, but like, if you want to leave, we don’t have to do tourist things, man.” There’s a little line between Dylan’s eyebrows, like she’s almost frowning but hasn’t quite made it fully there. It’s kind of cute, and so is her concern. Auston shakes her head.

“Nah, it’s fun. I think Mitch might not be able to handle the weather, though,” and Auston nods over where Mitch is still sitting in the shade. Dylan opens up the map she picked up at the front gate.

“Okay, well, there’s like, two more animals I really wanna see, and then maybe we can go somewhere airconditioned for lunch,” she says, a little absently.

Auston doesn’t point out that it’s Arizona, and anywhere that wants any sort of business has air conditioning. She just nods. “Sounds good.”

\-----

Auston parks the car, and glances in the rearview mirror. Dylan makes eye contact with her, looks down at Mitch leaning on her shoulder, and mouths, _She’s still asleep_. Auston turns the car off. She tries to get out of the car quietly, but she doesn’t think it works.

Usually, Auston would try to startle Mitch awake, but this isn’t them carpooling to and from practice, or Mitch having fallen asleep at yet another game night. She’d seemed exhausted when they went to lunch, and ice cream afterwards gave her a little boost, but Auston’s genuinely worried that she may have overheated or something. She’s feeling a little guilty for any potential Mitch issues, so this doesn’t feel like the time to try and freak Mitch out.

Dylan’s trying as hard as she can to wake Mitch up just enough to get out of the car, and she must succeed, because Mitch kind of stumbles out. Dylan’s next to her in a flash, her arm around Mitch’s waist. Mitch mumbles something to Dylan, who nods, and starts walking toward the house. Auston holds the door open for them. Dylan leads Mitch up to the room they’re staying in and Auston is, once again, waiting in the kitchen, unsure of what to do.

It takes a little while for Dylan to return, which gives Auston plenty of time to overthink her own reactions. It’s so easy to try and make Mitch laugh, to make sure she’s happy, and Auston knows perfectly well that that’s not exclusive to being in love with someone, but she also knows that no matter how much she tries to convince herself of that, her feelings for Mitch are definitely not confined to friendship.

“She’s either going to sleep for the rest of the day, or wake up in an hour with more energy than either of us can handle,” says Dylan, walking back into the kitchen. Auston snorts, because she’s unfortunately familiar with Mitch’s nap habits. Dylan pulls out one of the chairs at the table in the corner, but she doesn’t sit down, just kind of perches on it like an oversized bird.

“So,” Dylan starts, and Auston has no idea where this is going, but she’s already deeply regretting it. “What’s so great about Arizona?”

Huh. That isn’t what Auston was expecting at all, but it’s not really any easier to answer. “I mean… I don’t know, what’s so great about Toronto?”

Dylan shrugs. “Lots of things. Good hockey, lots of shit to do, snow in the winter and good swimming weather in the summer,” she lists. “My friends are there. The traffic is awful but I know how to avoid it, and I don’t have to figure out how miles work.”

“Okay, but like…” Auston doesn’t know how to say what she means without offending Dylan. She might as well go for it, she supposes. “Sure, that’s all great, but those aren’t that important. Like, Toronto’s nothing like here, but I’m learning to like it just fine.”

Dylan had been kind of staring out at nothing, but when Auston says that, she turns to look right at her. Her expression isn’t pleasant. “Yeah, it probably helps that Toronto actually wants you to be there. Arizona doesn’t give two shits about me.”

That was pretty much what Auston had expected. “It does, for sure. But that’s not what you said about Toronto. There’s lots of things I like about living here—My friends are here, there’s tons of things to do, especially outside, I love the desert, and there’s pretty much any option you want for sports to watch. I don’t have to convert temperatures from celsius, but none of that’s really what’s important. It’s that Arizona is my home. So if you’re expecting that, yeah, I think you’re probably going to be disappointed, but I think you need to get over yourself and figure out what you do like about being here.” It’s Auston’s turn to shrug. “Or you can just stay miserable, but that seems like a shit way to live.” 

Dylan looks taken off-guard by Auston’s little speech, and so is Auston, to some extent. She hadn’t expected to have that much to say, but Auston hadn’t expected to be so annoyed by Dylan asking either. Dylan’s obviously been having fun so far, so why can’t she see that Arizona isn’t her problem?

Abruptly, Dylan says, “Mitch is convinced that you don’t have any non-friendly feelings for her. Or maybe she’s choosing to believe that, I don’t know.”

Oh, there are those regrets Auston was waiting for. “Maybe we shouldn’t be talking about Mitch while she’s asleep,” she says weakly. Dylan gives her an unimpressed look.

“So you want to tell her that you’re in love with her?” Dylan says, not quite cruel, but definitely pointedly.

Auston chokes on air. She wants to deny it, but she looks at Dylan and knows she couldn’t convince her. Auston can’t even convince herself. 

“No, I don’t want to tell her,” Auston says, quietly. “I don’t plan on telling her, because I’m not going to do anything about it. Ever. She’s my best friend on the team, I won’t ruin it, and I don’t want to fuck up you guys. She loves you a lot.”

“I know,” says Dylan carelessly, and Auston hates her a little. “But that’s not why you were asking about soulmates yesterday, was it?”

There’s nothing Auston can say to make this sound any better. “Look, I didn’t mean anything with that, I really did just want to know if that’s how it feels. No one in my family has a soulmark, I don’t know much about the whole thing, beyond what Mitch says about you.” 

Auston’s sure she sounds like she’s trying to cover for something, but it’s true.

Dylan sounds skeptical when she asks, “So you weren’t trying to subtly ask about the new mark on your shoulder?”

Auston finally sits down. “If I’d been trying to do it subtly, wouldn’t I have been more… subtle?” she challenges. Sighing, Auston says, “No, I promise, I didn’t even realize that’s what it was until this morning. I seriously hadn’t seen it until Mitch pointed it out yesterday.”

Amazingly, Dylan’s whole face shifts. She’s no longer frowning, now she looks genuinely surprised. “Wait, you didn’t even know it was there? The soulmark had nothing to do with inviting Mitch out here?”

“What the fuck? No, of course not! I’d been saying Mitch should visit me since last year, because we never have time during the season for me to show her around.” Auston has no idea where Dylan got this idea, but she feels a little sick that Dylan could have thought that of her. She repeats, “What the fuck? Do you really think I would do that to you?”

For the first time since she started this conversation, Dylan looks uncertain. “I don’t know, man, I don’t know you. Mitch talks about you all the time, and like… I know I’ve been kind of bringing her down for the last year. You two are together all season, it seems like it’d be a lot easier for her if you two were together, and I don’t know what I could do about that.” 

Dylan seems sad as she lays all this out, but she says it easily enough, and Auston wonders how often Dylan thinks about this.

“Dylan, I promise, I have tried so hard to hide how I feel about Mitch. Obviously, I didn’t do a great job of it, since you realized in a day, but I’m not trying to, like, steal her away or anything,” Auston says, trying to make sure that Dylan believes her. “Plus, dude, she loves you so fucking much. You’re practically all she talks about during the season, how great you are, and how much she misses you, and complaining about the latest dumb joke you sent her—she doesn’t think you’re bringing her down at all. And I don’t think you are,” adds Auston, because it’s true.

“Um,” Dylan says, very small. “Thanks. I appreciate it.” 

She’s quiet for a while, and Auston doesn’t know if she should offer her tissues or ignore the glistening wetness at the corners of her eyes. She gets them both water out of the fridge for something to do. Dylan takes a big gulp, and then looks back at her, her eyes narrowed. “Can I see the soulmark?”

Auston considers saying no. She’s pretty sure Dylan would push, but give in if she refused. She kind of wants someone else to reassure her that it’s there, though, as fucked up as it might be. Auston nods, and strips out of her shirt, turning her back so that Dylan can see the mark.

Dylan’s fingers are cool from the water as she traces them lightly over Auston’s shoulder blade, and Auston shivers. 

“Yeah,” says Dylan. “That’s a soulmark, alright.” Then her fingers freeze. “Um. Do you—have you looked at it?”

Unsure what Dylan is aiming at, Auston says, “I mean, I tried, but it’s kind of hard to see in the mirror. It—it looks like it’s starting to say… uh… Mitch. I think,” she says miserably.

It’s quiet. Dylan just traces over something in the mark, and Auston tries to focus on anything other than how soft Dylan’s fingers feel on her back. 

“Yeah,” Dylan says, eventually. It seems like maybe she was going to say something else, but she never does, just traces something one last time, and then leans back with an awkward grunt. Auston pulls her shirt back over her head.

“Hey, um, sorry,” says Dylan. “For accusing you of, like, trying to steal Mitch. I should have known you wouldn’t do that. I’m just… kind of, uh, insecure, I guess,” she says, and Auston wonders if she’s quoting someone.

“I’m not,” Auston promises.

Dylan grins, and it’s surprisingly wide and sunny. “Well, good,” Dylan says. “Because I’m starting to like you, and that would suck ass.”

\-----

Mitch wakes up just in time for a late dinner, and Auston’s mom offers to make food. Mitch and Dylan thank her excessively, and get into a competition to come up with the most ridiculous compliment, and Auston laughs as her mom tries to get them to stop. She knows her mom isn’t always happy that she’s decided to to play in the NHL, but Auston knows she supports her anyway, and it’s extra nice to have a moment like this without worrying if she’s making her mother worry too much.

She still drags Mitch and Dylan away before they can say anything truly embarrassing, calling back a thank you to her mom. They laugh at her as Auston leads them back to the living room.

“Seriously, though, that was amazing,” Mitch says, flopping onto the couch as Auston sets up the PS4. Dylan makes a noise of agreement. “Can your mom, like, send us care packages next season?”

“Can I invite myself over to your house during the season?” muses Dylan, and Auston shrugs.

“If my mom wants to put up with you, sure,” she says, and Mitch whoops while Dylan stutters, which is kind of over the top.

Dylan settles on, “Rude,” but pats the open space next to her on the couch when Auston comes back with controllers. She starts up NHL18 and drops down next to Dylan.

“Switch off who’s playing?” Auston suggests, and Mitch and Dylan nod. Mitch is kind of garbage at NHL but makes up for it by getting lucky constantly (she doesn’t own it, so she always claims lack of practice), while Auston and Dylan are both pretty good, but rotating out who plays means neither of them can get too competitive. It devolves into a trick shot competition at one point, with Mitch holding up imaginary score cards.

It’s starting to get a little late, and Auston says, “Alright, we should all go to bed now.”

She has a second to think about how bossy that sounds before Dylan raises an eyebrow, gives her a look, and says, “Damn, moving fast, Matthews.”

“Oh, god, no, not like that!” she protests. Mitch is laughing at them. “I just meant, I was thinking we could go for a short hike tomorrow morning, but we’ll need to get up pretty early.” Auston’s pretty sure she’s blushing.

Dylan wiggles her eyebrows once more, but then answers. “That makes sense. Do stuff early before it gets too hot, right?” 

Auston nods, glad Dylan’s dropped the joke. She’s relieved Dylan’s moved on from warning her off Mitch, but going from that to a joke about the three of them sleeping together is giving Auston emotional whiplash.

Mitch pouts. “I just got back up!”

Dylan pats her on the shoulder. “Should have thought of that before sleeping all day, babe.” She laughs at Mitch’s outraged expression.

“It’s not my fault!” says Mitch.

“Are you two always like this?” asks Auston, amused. She knows the answer, it’s just one of those things that she thinks needs to be remarked on occasionally.

“Absolutely,” says Dylan, at the exact same time as Mitch says, “Pretty much.”

Auston smiles, and stands up. “Alright, I want to leave at 5 am, if you two are okay with that. We can take a midday nap,” she says, hoping to cut off any arguments before they come. Dylan and Mitch look suitably apprehensive, but they both nod in agreement. Auston goes to her room before she can think about how cute they looked cuddled up on the couch and how easy it would have been to slip in next to them.

\-----

Auston wouldn’t exactly call herself a morning person. Left alone, she’ll sleep through most of the day, but she likes the feeling of accomplishment that comes from getting up early and having already done things by the time mid-morning rolls around. Amazingly, it seems Mitch and Dylan are both similar. Dylan’s been complaining ever since they left Auston’s house, but she’s alert and awake regardless.

There’s a short trail maybe 20 minutes from where Auston lives that she used to walk whenever she wanted to get away from hockey for a little while, and that’s where she takes them. Sunrise, according to Google, is at about 5:30, so it’ll start a little after they get on the trail. That suits Auston’s plans fine, since mostly the point is being able to walk outside without instantly overheating. The sunrise is just a nice bonus.

It turns out it’s a nice bonus that Mitch is really taken with. She keeps stopping to try and take pictures of the sky, and as much as she seems frustrated not to be able to capture it effectively, she’s smiling almost as much as she had when they’d made the playoffs. Dylan is less effusive with her happiness, but she’s alternating between holding Mitch’s hand and walking ahead of them, more of a bounce in her step than Auston has seen yet. Auston is hanging back, enjoying being outside and the joy of exercising in ways that aren’t for a dedicated workout.

“Hey, hang on, let’s get a picture,” says Dylan suddenly. Mitch has stopped to take more pictures, although the sun is almost up completely at this point. Auston steps back to the other side of the trail and tries to compose a picture with some hint of a landscape that doesn’t completely backlight the two of them. She says, “Say cheese,” and snaps several pictures in a row. She’s about to keep walking when Mitch grabs her arm.

“You, too,” says Mitch, and Auston goes without thinking as Mitch pulls her in. Dylan holds up her phone, angling it for a selfie. Auston doesn’t really have time to think, just smiles instinctually as Dylan repeats, “Say cheese!” It’s probably a terrible picture, but Dylan smiles at her phone as she looks at it.

“It’s nice,” pronounces Dylan. “I’ll send it to you later.”

Mitch is the first to start walking again, and Auston and Dylan trail behind, her enthusiasm leading her slightly ahead of the two of them.

\-----

“So,” Auston starts once they’re back at the car. “I don’t really have a plan after this. We could, uh, we could go back to my house? We could…” She trails off, trying to think of other things to do. “Go get breakfast?”

Dylan makes a considering noise. Mitch says, “I’m never opposed to breakfast.”

Auston thinks for a second that Dylan is going to object, but she doesn’t. She does, however, say, “Shotgun!” and hip check Mitch out of the way to jump into the passenger seat. Auston can’t decide if Dylan’s smug face or Mitch’s betrayed expression is better. She just shakes her head and starts the car after Mitch is settled in the back seat.

“Okay, but this is unfair,” Mitch bursts out not even a minute later. “I always sit shotgun with Auston! I have dibs!”

Dylan stretches extravagantly, apparently showing off the extra room in the front seat. “But you didn’t call it. I called shotgun fair and square, and now you’re just jealous. Right, Auston?” They’re both looking at Auston now.

“I don’t know, Mitch, she did call it,” Auston says, pretending to think it over as she drives. Dylan literally punches the roof of the car, and Mitch looks even more betrayed now.

“Auston! You’re supposed to take my side!” Mitch cries.

Auston shrugs. “Rules are rules for a reason. You can’t call permanent shotgun, and like, even if you could, you never did.”

Dylan turns around and sticks her tongue out at Mitch, who flips her off. “See, _Auston_ understands the importance of calling shotgun, unlike some people,” and it sounds like Dylan’s still grinning as she says it. She turns back to face front, and says, “Thank you, Auston, for recognizing the proper legality of such matters.”

Mitch throws her hands up in exasperation. “They’re not formal laws! You can’t make that argument if not everyone understands the rules!”

Auston hums, because it’s a fair point. Dylan apparently doesn’t think so, because she immediately says, “Doesn’t matter, driver makes the rules, and everyone else is subject to them in their car. If you wanna argue, Marns, maybe consider actually driving.”

“We literally flew here! Neither of us could possibly have a car in this situation!” yells Mitch. Dylan shrugs.

“Still Auston’s call, her car. Just admit you’re wrong.”

Mitch flips Dylan off again while pouting, and Auston is beyond glad that they’re at a red light, because she’s laughing so hard it’s kind of hard to concentrate on the road.

\-----

They’ve ended up back at Auston’s house. Auston feels like she’s being a bad host, but it also seems silly to go somewhere when she can’t think of anywhere to go. She wanders towards the living room, figuring the PS4 is there if she can’t come up with something better. Dylan and Mitch follow her, but Dylan stops at the bookcase near the doorway

“Dude! You have Catan! Can we play?” Auston looks back at her and sees Dylan leaning down to look at the small stack of board games.

“Sure,” says Auston, kind of surprised. It’s not the sort of thing she expects from teammates, usually. “I’m always down for Catan.” She thinks about warning Dylan that she doesn’t play nice during board games, but the look in Dylan’s eye suggests it might be unnecessary. “Mitch? You cool with board games?”

Mitch shakes her head, but says, “I can’t believe both of you like this shitty game. Yeah, I’ll play. But only once!” she adds quickly. “We play once, and no one gets to hold grudges.”

Dylan’s already grabbed the game and is bringing it to the coffee table in front of the couch, but she stops to make a face at Mitch’s “holding grudges” comment. She doesn’t say anything, though, just starts unpacking the box, and Auston helps spread the board tiles out. She’s not making any promises about grudges. Auston still remembers the time her cousin somehow got a complete monopoly on wheat and didn’t let the game end. She’s got revenge plans.

\-----

“Oh thank god,” moans Mitch, flopping back into the couch. Dylan looks like she’s about three seconds away from throwing an actual punch, and Auston is incredibly pleased with herself.

“One more game,” starts Dylan, and Mitch sits back up immediately.

“Absolutely not! Auston won, you can challenge her for your stupid honor some other time, whatever,” she says, sternly.

Auston starts cleaning up the cards, smug. She knows it’s just a board game, but like. She loves winning. Dylan opens her mouth again, and Mitch cuts her off.

“No! We’re done. You two are so lucky that I love you enough to put up with one game, honestly,” Mitch says, but Auston isn’t sure she heard the end of that sentence, because she thinks her brain stopped after “I love you”. She doesn’t want to look at either of them, doesn’t want to see their reaction to whatever her face is doing right now.

Dylan says, conversationally, “Babe, that wasn’t really what we talked about. I think you broke Auston.”

Out of the corner of Auston’s eye, she sees Mitch shrug. “Yeah, but I got tired of waiting. Hey, Aus, if it was an option, would you want to date us?”

Auston is so completely out of her depth in this conversation. “What?” she manages. She’s still holding the Catan cards. Dylan reaches over and gently takes them out of her hands. Auston is forced to actually look at her, and Dylan’s expression is surprisingly calm.

“Mitch and I talked about you last night. Actually, we’ve talked about you before. This, um—this isn’t about the soulmate thing. I didn’t tell her,” and now Dylan looks a little shifty as Mitch turns to her.

“What soulmate thing?” Mitch asks slowly. Dylan kind of freezes, like maybe she’s realized she shouldn’t have said that.

“Uh, I promise I’ll explain, Mitch, but can we finish telling Auston our part first? She still looks like she might run away,” Dylan says.

Auston nods, wordlessly. She’d really like to hear more before she tries to sink into the floor from embarrassment, yes.

Mitch looks directly at Auston, as determined as she is on the ice. “I’ve had feelings for you for a while now, but I was never going to do anything about them. I didn’t want Dylan to feel like she’s not enough for me, and I didn’t want to fuck anything up between us. You’re my best friend, Auston, and…” she laughs, and rolls her eyes at herself. “Um, Dylan had to convince me that you might like me back. I thought there was no way you could be interested in me.”

Auston laughs in shock. She doesn’t know what else to do at this point.

Mitch keeps talking. “Like I said, I was never going to do anything, but um… Dylan and I did a little research, and then talked some more about maybe…” She seems hesitant to say whatever comes next. “Polyamory? And Dylan—” Mitch stops again. Dylan pats her leg and takes up the talking.

“Mitch was being very self-sacrificing about the whole thing, but like, you’re fucking hot, and everyone knows I fall in love at the drop of a hat, so I wanted to come visit you and see what Mitch sees. And, yeah, you’re… pretty great, actually,” Dylan says, and Auston feels like she’s been thrown into the ocean. Metaphorically, but also kind of literally, because her stomach is churning.

“So, wait,” she says, trying to speak up for the first time in several minutes. “Mitch has feelings for me, and you decided to come here and warn me off her but also— decide if I’m good enough for her?”

“No,” says Dylan. “Decide if you’re good enough for both of us.” Auston tries to understand how to respond to that. Dylan speaks up again, sounding unsure for the first time since bringing up the soulmark. “Obviously, if you want. It’s shitty of me to make it sound like this is our decision, and not yours, but…” She looks over at Mitch, who’s watching the two of them intently. “If you want, we’re open.”

Auston says the first thing that comes to mind. “It’s only been two days.” She can’t believe she’s got the opportunity in front of her and she’s the one who’s objecting, but it all seems very sudden to her. “How can you decide so quickly?”

Dylan looks at Mitch, then back to Auston. “I don’t… I think this will sound contrived, or like, maybe you think this is silly, but…” Instead of finishing her sentence, she pulls her hair away from the nape of her neck and Auston abruptly realizes that she hasn’t seen Dylan’s soulmark. Until now.

Mitch’s name curves around the hair on the left side of Dylan’s neck. On the right side, much lighter but very clear, is Auston’s name.

“Oh,” breathes Auston. And then, as if that wasn’t a revelation all on its own, Mitch peels off the bracelets she’s been wearing on her right hand, and there Auston’s name is again. “Oh,” she says again.

Dylan clears her throat. “Auston, I… I didn’t tell Mitch. Do you want to show her?”

“Show me what?” asks Mitch, but Auston is already lifting her shirt. It should feel weird, and maybe it would if she let herself think about it, but she doesn’t, just takes her t shirt off, baring the mark to Mitch. Mitch gasps, and Dylan moves to trace it again.

“That’s what I didn’t tell you yesterday, Auston. Why I asked if you’d looked at it,” Dylan says, a little awed. Auston hears the click of a phone camera, and then Dylan’s showing her a picture of her own back. There’s the mark, still indistinct, but Mitch clearly visible, along with—Dylan. Their names are both there. “I think that’s why it was so dark,” Dylan offers. “The names are almost right on top of each other.”

“Can I— have a minute?” Auston says. “I— Um— This is a lot, and I promise I’m not mad, and I—” She doesn’t know how she planned on ending that sentence, but Mitch is already nodding.

“Of course, we’ll leave you alone for a while. Come up and find us when you feel— decided? I guess?” Mitch sounds almost as uncertain as Auston feels, as Dylan had sounded about the soulmarks. It makes Auston feel a lot less alone in this whole situation, and that’s reassuring. Dylan hesitates, and then pats her on the shoulder, before following Mitch upstairs.

Auston pulls her shirt back on thoughtlessly, her brain racing.

\-----

“Hi,” Auston says, pushing the door to the guest room all the way open. Mitch and Dylan look up at her from where they’re cuddling on the bed, Mitch’s fingers freezing in Dylan’s hair and Dylan moving her phone away from her face so she can see Auston. Auston’s breath stutters a little with how much she wants to be on the bed with them, and that’s what decides it for her, completely.

Auston walks in, and closes the door. It feels right to have a little privacy, even if realistically, no one else would come in.

“I want to date you. Both of you,” she announces. “But, I don’t—you two have way more history, and I don’t want to act like I’ve always been here with you.” Auston thinks Mitch starts to protest, but Dylan shushes her, gesturing for Auston to keep talking. “I’m not saying I think I’m less important, just… I want to try dating, just like anyone else dating someone new. I’m kind of—uncomfortable with the whole soulmates thing, I think, because it feels like it’s a shortcut? And I want to know how we all work together for real, not just assume it’s good because we’re soulmates.” Auston still gets a little thrill at saying the words, even when she’s downplaying their importance. “Mitch, I’ve been half in love with you for months now, but Dylan—I think you’re really cute, and you’re hilarious, and I like how all three of us fit, but I don’t want to act like I know how I feel towards you, because I don’t.” She takes one last deep breath. “I want to try and find out, though.”

Faced with Mitch’s blinding grin and Dylan’s soft smile, Auston feels incredibly good about her decision. Especially when Dylan says, “Awesome, come cuddle us. I’ve been wanting to feel your biceps for the last three days.”

Auston laughs, and walks over to the bed. Mitch pats the space next to her, and Auston half lies down, slipping an arm behind Mitch’s waist so she can lean her head into Mitch’s side. Dylan grabs her other arm and arranges it across herself. Then she rests her hand on Auston’s upper arm and sighs happily. “I’m so gay,” Dylan sighs.

“I’d hope so, babe,” says Mitch fondly. Auston wouldn’t say she’s had daydreams about this exact scenario, but it’s close enough that she feels justified in thinking about it as a dream come true.

“Wait, now that I don’t have to hide the soulmark, we can go swimming again,” Auston realizes.

“Oh good,” says Mitch. “Because I felt weird checking you out last time. Is it cool if I do this time?” Auston can feel Dylan laughing against her arm, and it makes her want to laugh as well.

“Only if I get to check you out, too,” Auston bargains, and Dylan rolls her eyes.

“Yes, we’re all allowed to stare at each other, and it’ll be great. Why are we having to ask this?”

Auston shrugs, but Mitch pokes Dylan in the side of the head. “Hey, I’m being respectful. Be nice.” Auston can see that this is going to turn into another argument, and she considers trying to stop it, but she’s quickly learning to enjoy them, just like she knows Mitch and Dylan themselves do. She settles in to listen to them bicker, and knows she’s got a sappy look on her face. Somehow, Auston doesn’t think Mitch or Dylan will mind.

\-----

**Epilogue**

“So, you’re gonna come visit us, right?” Mitch asks again.

Auston nods, but Dylan interrupts, exasperated. “Yes, come on, she said it like six times today. We need to go.”

Mitch rolls her eyes, but leans in to kiss Auston. “Bye, we’ll definitely text you while we’re waiting for the flight to leave. And when we get back to Toronto.”

“Basically, you’ll never stop hearing from us,” Dylan says.

“I’m okay with that,” says Auston, and twists around in her seat so Dylan can kiss her from the back seat.

Dylan lingers a little longer than Mitch had, and before she pulls away completely, says, “And um. Arizona’s not so bad.”

Auston suddenly remembers thinking she wanted to convince Dylan that Arizona was worth loving, and wonders if her subconscious has any other messages for her. “Good to hear,” she tells Dylan. “I’ll text you. Hurry up, don’t miss your flight.” They both wave, and walk away from the car.

Auston watches them walk to the door into the airport and smiles. As soon as she gets home, she’s got a trip to Toronto to plan.

**Author's Note:**

> dylan eventually sends auston and mitch the selfie they took and auston immediately sets it as her background on her phone.
> 
> also, for the record, during the swimming scene, mitch and dylan are equally distracted by the sight of auston in a very stylish swimsuit, and also each other. it's just a solid minute of the three of them going "WOW GIRLS"
> 
> thank you so much for giving me an opportunity to write this tbh- i love the concept of mitch/dylan/auston, and i also love any excuse to write f/f(/f) rule 63

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[podfic] The Shape I'm In](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17717102) by [Annapods](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annapods/pseuds/Annapods)
  * [The Shape I'm In (podfic)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18530635) by [yeswayappianway](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeswayappianway/pseuds/yeswayappianway)




End file.
